Minister says security issues remain with India after federal official says interference has stopped

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said there are still “outstanding” security issues with India, the day after a senior government official stated that Indian agents are no longer linked to violent threats in Canada.

On Thursday morning, Anandasangaree refused to repeat the statement by the senior government official, instead noting there is still “a lot more work to do” on the file of transnational repression linked to India.

The minister noted that while Canada and India are working on increasing bilateral economic and diplomatic ties, there are also at times “difficult conversations around safety and security of Canadians.”

“Of course, there are still outstanding issues that we’re going to work through,” Anandasangaree told reporters on the sidelines of a Thursday morning National Police Federation event on the need for lawful access reform in Canada.

“There’s still a lot more work to do, and we will do that work.”

On Wednesday, during a background briefing for reporters on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 10-day visit to India, Australia and Japan, a senior government official said that India is no longer interfering in Canadian affairs.

“We’re confident that that activity is not continuing,” the official said of previous allegations the agents of the government of India were linked to many violent crimes or threats in Canada, including the murder of B.C. Sikh-Canadian leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023.

“If we believed that the government of India was actively interfering in the Canadian democratic process, we probably wouldn’t be taking this trip,” adding the official, who was speaking on background and not for attribution.

The statement upset the Canadian Sikh community, which has long accused the Indian government of trying to suppress criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration and treatment of Sikhs in the province of Punjab.

Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who is Sikh, “firmly” denounced the comment Thursday and called on the government to review the official’s “conduct and suitability” for their job.

In a statement, World Sikh Organization head Danish Singh wrote that “I can say with complete conviction that the claim made by this senior government official is utterly false. It does not align with what Sikh Canadians are experiencing on the ground and what we are seeing firsthand.”

The official’s comment also raised the hackles of national security experts both within and outside of government, many of whom were stunned the official would make such a definitive statement after decades of suspected Indian government involvement in transnational repression in Canada.

The statement came just days after Global News reported that noted Modi critic and Khalistan separatism activist Moninder Singh had been warned by police of a credible threat to his life and family.